Dieters urged to avoid drastic action

Lots of women start to diet at this time of year in order to squeeze into their little black dress in time for the Christmas party season.

While the British Dietetic Association welcomes steps to adopt a healthy diet, experts are warning against 'drastic' steps and urging dieters to take a sensible attitude towards their weight loss endeavours.

Rachel Cooke, a dietician at the BDA, advised consumers to be 'realistic'.

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'With eight weeks to go, you're looking at [losing] a stone healthily at the most,' she revealed.

'I'd say, make changes that aren't too drastic because otherwise, by the time Christmas comes, you're desperate for whatever it is that you cut out.

'Whatever your favourite food is, people tend to cut that out when they're trying to eat healthily and lose weight, so they'll cut out the crisps and biscuits or whatever, but by the time Christmas comes, they're desperate for it and so they'll have it in excess and everything will just go back on - plus a lot more weight as well.'

Ms Cooke's advice is to eat sensibly for the time being, indulge to a moderate degree over Christmas, and then avoid 'fad diets' and look at implementing long-term changes that will ensure healthy weight management instead.

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